But None of This Has Anything to Do With Radio!
Well, not yet; please be patient a while longer.
Hype, and More Hype
With the unwitting cooperation of his peers and competitors, Rickard kept the Dempsey-Carpentier fight in the news during the six months that led up to it. If one believed the newspaper reports, rival promoters were constantly trying to outbid him for the rights to the fight. Syndicates in London, Baltimore, Montreal, Philadelphia, and other cities organized competing bids. There were frequent "unsubstantiated reports" that Rickard had silent partners who were growing impatient, and who were thinking of withdrawing their money from his bid. There were new investors, who wanted to put their money into it. One known partner actually went missing for several months; when he resurfaced, he offered no explanation for his absence, prompting a flurry of news about "the mystery" of his disappearance.
Whether it was real or not, the hype worked. Interest in the bout rose steadily. It was obvious that no indoor arena would be large enough; Rickard needed a stadium. He led the press on forays, mostly around the east coast, ostensibly scouting for suitable sites. The searching paused when a reality, heretofore ignored, generated headlines - New York's Governor, who always had strenuously opposed the sport of boxing, announced to the world that his government would oppose any effort to stage the match in the State.
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